Before settling into business, the Santa Fe R-X Board of Education took time to reflect on the service that Tim Dierking had provided to the board of education as well as all he had given to his community over the years. He will be missed.

In business, the board held its annual reorganization, with all officers voted back in to their seats: Russell Limback- President, Jennifer Hostetter- Vice President, Darren Wodrich- Secretary, Justin Schuster- Treasurer.

In his report, Mr. Lark shared that he had been working on salary and benefit recommendations for the board. He noted that numerous pieces of legislation, along with the rewrite of the state foundation formula for education was causing excessive uncertainty this budget year. “Even in the best scenario, the budget will be tight for the indefinite future,” signaling that increases in salary/ benefits would be minimal going into the 2026-27 school year. “While it’s always our goal to provide as much as we can to our deserving staff, our budget forecast does not provide the option to extend raises for next year. Something will have to change to keep the district solvent moving forward. That means you either find ways to increase revenues or you reduce your expenditures; of those two, municipalities have by far the greatest control of their expenditures, and salary and benefits make up 75-80% of the districts budget, so in the present, salaries and benefits are what must be leveraged to limit the damage. As for revenues, we are funded 6% federally, 7% by the county, 35% by the state and 53% locally. Federal revenues have slowly declined in recent years and state funding is predicted to decline. Until a few years ago, the Santa Fe district had a solid long range budget with fixed costs that would maintain the board’s goal of maintaining reserves at 40%. However, recent and radical changes to laws that affect funding of public education have eroded that plan, with this year forecasted to spend over $600,000 of those reserves. The frustrating part is that these increases in expenses have been out of our control; specifically the mandated salary increases for certified staff and the massive increase to minimum wage for schools, which used to be exempt from minimum wage laws.” Mr. Lark went on to explain, “… lawmakers were more than aware that these mandates would specifically threaten rural schools that had lower base salaries for staff, as larger districts with more economy and assessed valuation already had revenues and salary schedules that met the minimums. In essence, it was a ‘that’s your problem’ response, which it most certainly is. Our other problems include the ever-increasing diversion of funding away from public schools to other programs and legislature that will further decrease state funding (referring to tax reform measures), leaving that burden on local communities. To me it’s simple, take care of your main concern first, which should be public education. If you feel your funding of that is adequate, possibly explore funding other programming, but that is not what’s happening.” “It hurts not to be able to recommend reasonable raises, but that is the corner we’re painted in to… I hope that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Mr. Lark then reviewed the Counseling and Food Service programs, thanking Luaren Kuntz, Lisa Nevels, Vicki Knipmeyer and Casey Klein and the kitchen staff for their outstanding service in these areas, noting that both programs are fantastic.

In building reports, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Brown thanked/recognized the following:

Mrs. Smith-

Eric & Jeri Long- Cinnamon rolls and St. Patrick’s goodies for staff

A HUGE note of appreciation to our neighboring districts and local agencies for their support during the passing our kindergarten student, Travis Poff.

Mrs. Brown-

Thank you to Jeri Long for the cards and lottery tickets for our staff!

Thank you to all of the patrons, surrounding superintendents, assessors, and clerks that attended the Town Hall Meeting.

Thank you to Representative Thompson and Senator Gregory for attending the Town Hall Meeting.

Thank you to Justus Hostetter with Hicks Family Tree Service for adjusting and fixing the lights for the softball/baseball fields.

Thank you for the Santa Fe/ Norborne Baseball parents for providing meals.

Congratulations to SFHS Student Council who won the Gold Award from there leadership organization.

Congratulations to Charles Heaper graduated through the alternative program.

Congratulations to Mia Lark, Tinley Koch, & Ethank Finkeldei made All Conference and All District for basketball.

Congratulations to Mia Lark for signing with MVC to play basketball and study Exercise Science.

Congratulations to Wyatt Doak on breaking the high jump record of 6’9”!

In executive session, the board rehired district classified staff and approved the employment of Mrs. Julia Riley as elementary secretary, Heather Engelbrecht for elementary special education, Emily Crawford for high school science, and Jon Stockman for high school P.E. and Activities Director.

The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.